The Arizona champion., 1887-07-23
THE VERDE COUNTRY.

| ho'iHSoo', aS PlSutituliy SHppIlS
 with water and lands laying aroun,
 them are capable of growing anythini , that can be planted, from the hardI
 est roots and cereals to the most deli
 cate tropical fruits. A number c
 vineyards have been started with sat
 isfactory results and all kinds o
 fruit seems to flourish in the rich soi
 of these valleys, while farther east
 ward tine land around the MQgollon
 will produce wheat, oats, barley anc
 potatoes of ths finest quality, IT
 abundance,
 This valley is at the present
 time the most productive in agricul, turai growths of any portion O Northern Arizona. The soil is rich and the Verde river provides an un, failing supply of water for irrigation Corn is very productive in the valley having been known to yield as high as sixty, five bushels to the acre, and the quality and richness of the soil is shown by the fact that in one portion of the valley corn has been raised on the same land for eighteen successive years, the soil still apparently reta,n. ing all of its virgin fertility,
 A large portion of this section oi Yavapai county is now occupied as cattle ranges. But cattle growing is merely an incident in the develop ment of country. The advance of the husbandman will drive the cattle to other sections which are not avail able for agriculture and the tract of land which hitherto has found graz ing for twenty steers will yield food for hundred families. This result, in the secti9n spoken pt, is inevitable because it is the best land for agricul- tural purposes of any extent, between the Rio Grande Valley and Califor- mia. Some portion of the bottom lands on the Little Colorado contain rich alluvial soil, but its extent is limited compared to the vast tract of land stretching east to west from the Mogollons to the Black Hills and from the the base of the San Fran cisco mountains southward, all plen- tifully watered and free from damag. ing frosts.
 Right through the heart of this country, passing the head waters of Oak, Beaver and Clear creeks, runs the line of the Mineral Belt Railroad, starting from Flagstaff on the north and passing within about IS miles ol Fort Verde. This will bring Flag staff into easy communication with Fort Verde and divert business of that section this way, as it is more than 40 miles from Fort Verde to Prescott, over a mountainous road.
 Within a men,h from the present writing, 2 station will be established for passenger and freight traffic about ,en miles south of Mormon Lake al the crossing of the Winslow and Fort Verde road and this will undoubtedly divert the greater portion of the trade of the Verde Valley this way, IS by this route the outlet from the Verde country is shorter and more easy than any other, and the steep grades necessitated by the Black Hills barrier is avoided. The road ron the line of railroad to the val ey IS in good conditi9n and is well 
 The new railroad will also open up mother outlet to the United Verde hines, which are abont to resume operations, as well as to the Cherry Creek mines, which are situated on he Verde slope of the Black Hills, md which are splendid pror critics 'isldlng gold and silver, and are rap dIy belng developed by eastern capitalists.
 The outlook for the new railroad nd for its initial point Flagstaff, ooks more promising every week The traffic on the Mineral Belt is lready large, far exceeding the expectations of its promoters, nd when the point mention d is reached and station estab- shed there, it will be largely augu. ,ented by the business which will be lrned this way from the rapidly de- elpplng Verde Valley, and the whole ange of country east of the Black lills, all rich either in agricultural, ock or mining interests.
 TIE A,isOaiag, of Phenix, has un- ,rtbsd .nother atteponted land fraud